How to prepare to visit Glacier National Park with toddlers

 

The biggest thing I learned from this trip is "One cannot simply just "go" to Glacier". I mean if you are young and are willing to sleep anywhere and are VERY flexible then yes you can do this. However if you want to do this with kids like we did and actually enjoy yourselves then know that you need to be prepared! 

You really need to have your "stuff" together when planning this trip. I started planning, learning and preparing about a year in advance. 

Step 1: Decide WHERE you are going to stay 

So Glacier is divided into two sections- East Glacier vs West Glacier. There are only two roads that cross the whole thing. One of them is the Going to the Sun road which is only open seasonally and goes through the park up through Logan pass the other is highway 2. 

West Glacier is easier to get to and is significantly more populated with things to do. There is great cell service until you actually enter the park and you can find a lot more places to stay and to get food and do other activities. Because of all of this it is fairly expensive to stay on the west side. 

East Glacier- there ain't nothing. Well this isn't entirely true. It is harder to get to. There is basically no cell service and barely any services like gas and food. However it does give you access to more parts of the park- and I would honestly aruge- some of the more awe-inspiring sections of the park. 

We really wanted to commit to seeing as much of this park as possible so we decided to stay on both sides. However we only stayed on the west side for 3 days because of how expensive it was to stay there. The rest of our time we spent on the east side. 

Also- I almost forgot- there is another section of the park that is in CANADA- yes you read that right part of the park it technically in another country. It's technically called "Waterton National Park". A lot of people skip it but it's something to consider if you want to visit it. 

Step 2: Decide HOW you are going to stay 

There are some hotels (mostly on the west side), and there are actually a few hotels within the park itself. Theres also some air bnbs. There are a TON of campgrounds. It's by far the most popular way to visit Glacier. We decided to invest in a pop up camper and that we would camp for this entire trip. 

For more about the camper see this blog post: 

Camping inside the park vs outside the park.

 There are lot of campgrounds within the park. The advantage to camping in the park is that you are already in the park and you cut down on your time commuting into the park to go do things. The disadvantage is that none of the sites have electrical or running water toilets. While my husband and I have often camped like this in the past, we decided that with two toddlers- one who was recently potty trained, that we needed some basics such as water and electricity. The other disadvantage is that you can only book your campsite one night at a time. And if you book one campsite for one night, the next night someone else could beat you to booking your campsite and you would have to book another. With kids we didn't want to risk having to take down and re-set up our camper more than we absolutely had to because it's such a pain. For that reason we decided to book campsites outside the park where we could book it for all the days that we needed all in one go. 

Campsites within the park are released on a timed basis exactly SIX MONTHS in advance. It opens at 10am mountain time. You need to be super prepared and be flexible. 

I booked campsites outside the park in January for a trip in July. Places were already starting to fill up by that time so I would honestly recommend trying to book even earlier if you can. 

Step 3: Decide WHEN you are going to go 

The most popular time to visit is late June- Early September. This is when the main road that goes through the park aka Going to the Sun road is open. We wanted to go in mid July to celebrate our anniversary and try to guarantee ourselves the best weather. We also knew that this is the most popular time and to expect a lot of people. 

If you want to go during this time and actually want to do things in a timely fashion I would prepare yourself to get up early. If you get up early and can beat the crowds its significantly more enjoyable and you can find parking.

Step 4: PLAN your Itinerary and book entrances to Going to the Sun road 

I have two more blog posts coming about what to do on East vs West sides of glacier but it's important to have a plan but also have a back up plan with things to do if things change so you can pivot quickly. 

If you want to drive on the Going to the Sun road from the west side  you have to book a reservation. These are done exactly FOUR months in advance and they open at 8am Mountain time. Be prepared because the 7a-9a slot sells out in like 1 minute. You have to do this for every single day you want to access the road from that side. 

We honestly found that it was better if we entered the park before 7am. Was this a bit torturous with 2 kids- yes. However we beat  lot of traffic this way. We had reservations for 3 days and only used it one day because the other days we just entered the park before 7. We honestly just put the kids in their car seats in their pajamas, fed them breakfast while we drove into the park and then changed them into their clothes in our parking spot prior to hiking. 

Things to consider: 

Weather

I found this trip difficult because I really had to pack for a large range of temperatures- so it was not easy to pack light. It was as hot as 90 during the day on the west side and then it would get to as low as 40 at night. Also prepare for rain- even in mid july we had some rainy days. It was a bit crazy to go from shorts and t shirt during the day to fleece pajamas at night and hats and mittens in the morning. Be prepared for a little bit of everything. 

Also the park is split by the continental divide. It is significantly cooler on the East side than it is on the West side because of this. For example when we drove from the west to east it was 94 degrees and then when we got to our campsite on the east side it drop down to 55 degrees. 

If you are going to do laundry 

This was something I knew I would need to do. 10 days with two kids and a variety of weather conditions generates a lot of laundry. Plus we were trying to pack light (hahahah!). This was another factor in our decision to stay outside the park rather than in. I made sure that both of our campsites had access to laundry. This can be particularly hard to find on the east side so just make sure you know whether you have access to it or not. 

Planning your Food 

We planned out all of our meals ahead of time. We honestly brought most of our food with us. We did stop at a grocery store in West Glacier but only got a few things and this was pre-planned. We tried to avoid most things that needed refrigeration but we did have one cooler. This honestly was a lot of work initially but made it very smooth while on the trip. If you are looking to do this trip economically I would highly recommend planning and bringing most of your food. All the food is very expensive in the area. 

Making sure you have enough Gas

We purposely filled up our tank in Kalispell- the largest town outside of West Glacier. We did have to fill up mid way through the trip and then again as we were leaving. As usual- the closer you are to the park the more expensive the gas will be. Also you don't want to get into a situation where you are in the park and run out of gas. 

Vehicle Length for the Going to the Sun road

You can not take anything more than 21 feet on the Going to the Sun road. This is because there is a serious hairpin turn very far up the mountain and you will get stuck. This means if you want to move your camper from the west side to the east side or vice versa you need to plan on doing that via highway 2. Please don't try to do this- the rangers will stop you. 

Things to bring: 

Sunscreen/Sunhats- especially at high elevations on a sunny day the sun will beat down on you and burn you. 

Warm clothes- this seems crazy especially if you are going in the middle of summer but it gets COLD at night and even early in the morning. 

Rain gear- it can rain at the drop of a hat. We literally got rained and hailed on during one of our hikes. 

Passports if you are going to Waterton- you do have to go through customs so be prepared.

Bear spray- you can buy this on Amazon or at any outdoor store in advance. Honestly we only bought one and my husband just carried it. We saw a lot of people taking it a bit extreme if you ask me- like everyone in the family had one- one guy had a gun strapped to his chest plus two cartridges full of bear spray. It's really more if you plan to go into the remote sections of the park. If you are in the more popular areas I don't think it's as big of deal because there are so many people. Obviously bears are a thing here and you should take it seriously but it's not like a bear is standing at the trail head ready to attack you. 

Hopefully this helpful- we absolutely loved our trip but it was further enjoyed by being prepared.